Rotary gas-engine.



T. L. ARTHUR.

ROTARY GAS ENGINE. APPucAnrm man MAR 7. 1915.

Paiteulted Mar. 20, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

T. L ARTHUR. ROTARY GAS ENGINE} APPLICATION FILED ma. 1, l9l6 PatentedMar. 20, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

certain new and various cylinders cape of exhaust gases from the severalcylsists in t y the cr1,|ink casing. 1

THOMAS L. ARTHUR, OF EAST SMETHPORT,

PEN NSYLVANIA.

ROTARY GAS-ENGIN E.

specification pf'Letters Patent.

1; itented Mar. 20, 1917.

Application filed March 7, 1916. SerialNo. 82,71;

To all whom it mag/concern:

Be it known that I, TnoMAs L. An'runn, a citizen of the United States,residin r at East Smethport, in the county of Mclxean and State ofPennsylvania, have invented useful improvements in Rotary Gas-Engines,of which the followin .is a specification. J

y invention "relates to new and useful improvementsin internalcombustion engines and more particularly to rotary en gines of the typein'avhich .a plurality of cylinders are radially disposed about a commoncrank shaft, the crank shaft being held in a stationary position andthec vlinders and crank case revolving about it when the engine is inoperation, one of the primary objects of my invention being theprovision described character in which the crank case and cylinders arebraced by and also 'inclosed in a frame which turnswith them and withthe cylinders constitutes a fly wheel.

A still further object of my invention consistsin the provisi n of anovel Inei nsfor positively operating the valves which-control theintake of explosive mixture to the and which govern the esof an engineof the above mders. V

A still further object of my invention consists in the provision of anovel means for driving the magneto of an engine of the above describedtype, and in 'the provision of a mechanism for automatically advancingand retracting the spark proportionateto the speed of'the engineh V Astill urther object of my invention conie provision of a novel means forsupplying the explosive mixture to the en gi'ne, cylinders, removing theexhaust gases therefronnand supplying lubricating oil to Wit) these andother objects in view, my invention will be more fully described,illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, and then specifically pointedout in the claims which are. attached to and form a part of thisapplication.

- In the. rawings:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of the of which it may be front orintake-side of an engine constructed in abcordancc with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse sectional view through the nigine;

ig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional taken centrally of the engine;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary inner plan view of one of the gear drivencontrolling cams for operating the inlet and exhaust valves of theengine.

Fig.5 shows a n'odified forn'i of construction in which the engine mayact as a propeller or fan.

(lorrespomling aid like to in the following 'lescription and indicatedin all the views of the drawings by the same reference characters.

My improved engine may be. supported by any type of frame, such asindicated by the numeral 10, the frame, in any 'instz'ince, he-

view

parts are referred mg provided with horizontally aliued spaced bearings11, one-of which rotatably receives rotation the forward end of thecrank shaft 14 whiclris l 0urnaled sleeve form'c( the casing.

in a relatively short centr: lly of the frontwall of This crank casing13 includes a substantiallycylindrical portion and |-adlally extendingaims, being ior'a fourcylinder engine of the type illustra'tml,crossshaped as shown in -ligs. 1 and 2 of the drawings with the arms ofthe cross open at their ends. lrefirably, one of the walls of the crankcase issepara'ble from the remajndcrof the c being secured v bolts inthe'manucr show the walls may be formed with hand openings closed byplates 15, theseopcnings permitting ready access to the interior of thecrank casing. The sleeve I2 is closed at its outer or (1 end with analtachii and formed at such lg flange 16 by means connected to a driveshaft 17, clutch or other desired mechanism, as power is transmittalfrom the engine by the rotation of the sleeve 12.

The crank shaft is formed within the crank casing, witha single crankarm 18t0 which is connected the piston rods 19 carryaud cithcr or othof' preferably The spur gears 4.3, which control the inlet ing thepistons which operate in the engine cylinders 21. These engine cylindersans secured to the o n ends of the arms of thecrank casing y bolts 22which are assed through peripherally extending anges of the cylindersand correspondln flanges of the arms of the crank case an fastened bylock nut-s. As will be noted, by reference to Fig. 3, the various istonrods are offset somewhat interme iate their length in order that theymay all be properly connected to their pistons and sti l operate with acommon fixed crank shaft.

- In order to provide proper lubrication, the 1 bearing 11 is preferabormed with an annular chamber 23'to w ich leads an oil supply pipe 2-1and the sleeve 12 is also formed I mteriorly with an annular chamber 25which is in communication with the chamber 23hr a plurality of radialducts 26. That of the crank shaft which isjournaled in the sleeve 12 isformed centrally with a ion?- tudinal oil pamage 27 which opens radia lyinto the-annular chamber 25 of the sleeve 12 at one endand avhich 9 lensat its other end 'into the crank case, as s own in Fig. 3.

The engine cylinders 21 are preferably of 'the'T-head type having, attheir outer ends,

diametrically extended inlet valve chambers 28 and outlet valve chambers29, the former being'locuted at the front of the en ins and the latterat the rear. Theheads o the cylindersare ,preferablv formed integrallywith the bodies of the cylinders and are provided with removable plu 80which will permit access to the valve 0 ambers and valves controlledtherein.- The valve chambers are divided transversel by partition walls31 formed with seats or the puppet valves 32 ,u As a means for openingthe valves against the action of their springs, at the proper times, Iprovide the crank case with aplurality of sleeve forming brackets 38disposed one in alinement with each of the stems of IS the valves 32 and33. Rods 89 are slidably mounted in these sleeves and lightly engage thefree ends of the valve stems when t e valves are-closed,being supportedin such position by fpins 40. The lower ends of these 80' rods are biurcated to receive rollers 41 and these'rollers project in thepath ofcams 42 carried upon the inner faces ofspur gears or disks 43 mounted uon 'stnb shafts 44, tending outwardly rom the crank casing.

and 33 which control the inlet and exhaust ofvalves 32, mesh with a.pinion 4 5 fixed upon the crank shaft 14. .The shafts carrying the disks43 which control the exhaust, valve: 88

extend through the casing and carry .spur

gears 46 corresponding to the or I 48 and meshing with a pinion the 79crank shaft within the crank casi As an and will tions of its cylinderabout the crank shaft.

It will further be understood that when the inlet valve oi onecylinder-is opened, the exhaust valve of the cylinder diametrically o1posite it will also be opened.

As a means for sup lyin an explosive mixture or gas to the in st vs vschamber of the various cylinders, the free end 'of the crank shaft isformed with a longitudinal chamber 48 opening through its 'end withradial passages '49 opcningthrou h its side into a mood or bonnet 50which .c osely surrounds the shaft providi an annular'chamher to receivegas admitte through a supply pipe '51 to the chamber 48. Branch supplypipes 52 lead from this hood or bonnet 50 to each of the intake valvechambers. In like manner, to lead off the'exhaust from the variouscylinders, I provide. E ranch exhaust pipes 53 which lead one from eachof the exhaust valve chambers to a hood or bonnet 54 fixed about theextended portion of the sleeve 12 of the crank shaft casi and providinga chamber 5.5 which communicates with a corresponding chamber 56 formedin a second bonnet or hood 57 which is loosel mounted about the sleeve12 and fromwhic extends the main exhaust pipe 58.

As a means for igniting the explosive mix ture after its admission-tothevarious engine cylinders, each cylinder is provided with a spark plug 59of any suitable type which may be threaded into the head of the cylinderor into the side thereof near its outer end, as preferred. Conductorwires 60lead froin the 'spark plugs to the contacts of-the cominutatoror timer 61 of a magneto 62 which is grounded as is customary in gas'en'ne ig nition systems. The armature sha t of this magneto carries abeveled pinion-63 which meshes with a beveled pimon'64 mounted upon oneend of a shaft'fili which extends radially through thewall of the crankcasing and within the crank casi is journaled in a bearing 66, The inneren of this shaft carries a'second beveled pinion 67 which meshes with abeveled lgear 68carried by the crank shaft within t is casing. Ifdesired. this beveled gear 68 and the, pinion or spur gear 47,previoW'Wf-filjeticribed, may be integrally formed.

Obviously flwis-ldesirable to be able. to advancea'ndgr'et dthe timin.of the spark in the varionhfcyhnders'and or this reason I 180 drawinshown in the drawings.

provide an automatic spark controlling device, which is best shown inFig. 1 of the This includes a supporting brace 69 whic is preferablyconnected at its ends to adjacent cylinders and which,.intermediate itslength, carries an outwardly and radiall extending shaft 70 upon whichis slida 1y mounted a. weight 71 which is normally eld in innermostposition by helical springs 72 surrounding the shaft and engagingbetween the weight and a collar 73 fixed upon the outer end of theshaft. A link 74 is connected at one end to the arm 7 of the Ycommutator and at its other end to an arm 76 carried by the weight.Obviously, as the speed of the engine increases, the weight 71 will bethrown outwardly against the force of the spring 72 to turnthe'commutator and advance-the spark in the usual manner. On

the other hand, as the speed of the engine decreases, the spring 7 2will force the weight inwardly and retard the spark. V

. The above described engine is of the air cooled type and the cylindersare preferably provided with heat dissipating or radiating blades orribs 77 which are peripherally 'spaced about the cylinders, extendinglonture be provided to strengthen the crank cas-' ing and cylinders andto, in a way, inclose them. Further it is advantageous that thiscombined guard and brace shall also act with the cylinders as a flywheel. To accomplish this, I provide radially extending arms 78 whichare connected at their inner ends to crank casing at oppositesides ofeach cylin- "der and at their outer ends to a relatively light flywheel79 which surrounds the en gine, being spaced slightly beyond the outerends of the engine cylinders, as clearly This fly wheel or guard ispreferably made up of two semicircular sections 80, the ends of whichabut against each other and are secured by bolts 81 passed through theinwardly directed arms of L-shaped brackets 82 carried by the abuttingends of the sectionsSO and which receive the nuts 83.

From the foregoing description of my gas engine, its operation will bereadily understood. The crank casing and cylinders may be manually orotherwise turned about the crank shaft to cause a drawing in ofexplosive ,mixture from the supply pipe 51 through the various intakevalves of the cylinders into the cylinders. The explosive mixture thusdrawn in will be ignited in the cylinders in the regular order of firingby sparks which are timed by the magnetos commutator, in the usualmanner, and the burnt gases will be expelled from the cylinders throughthe ex haust pipe 58.

It will, of course, be clear that the and brace which act as a light flywhee may be omitted and. as shown in Fig. 5, blades may be fastened to:he crank casing between the cylinders and the engine itself employed asa fan or propelle r. In this case it would not be necessary to extendthe sleeve 12 of the crank casing beyond the bonnet or hood 57 and theoil supply pipe 24 could' communicate directly with the exposed end ofthe crank shaft 14:. Under these circumstances, it will be obvious thatvariousv minor changes in construction may be made with out i theslightesl degree departing from the spirit of my invention and Itherefore reserve the right to make any changes, within the scope of theappended claims.

1:11 ving thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In a rotary gas engine, a fixedcrank shaft, a crank canin rotatablymounted about the shaft, radia cylinders carried by the casing, pistonsin the cylinders operatively connected to the crank shaft, exhaust valvechambers, vaflves for controlling pas sage of exhaust gas es from thecylinders to the valve chambers, a sleeve formed upon the crank casingaid extending beyond one end of the crank sh 1ft as a means fortransmitting power, a ho 3d fixed to thesleeve and providing an annu .archamber, branch exhaust pipes leading from the valve chambers to theannular chamber, a second hood in which the sleeve It; revoluhleproviding a ard,

chamber communicating with that of the i first hood, and a main exhaustpipe leading from the second ho 1d.

2. In a rotary gas engine, a fixed crank shaft, a crankcming revolublymounted about the shaft, cylinders carried by the crank casing, pistolin the cylinders, operative connection between the pistons and crankshaft, the cr: nk shaft at one end be ing formed with i longitudinalopening comn'iunicatingat one end with theinteriorof the crank casingand formed at its other end with a radial branch opening through thecrank shaft, a sleeve formed upon the crank casing and slrrounding suchend of the crank craft and projecting beyond it to t ansmit power, saidsleeve being formed i nteriorly with an annular chamber communicatingwith the radial branch of the passage of the crank shaft and with aradial 'iassage o iening into such chamher, and a bearing for the sleeveformed interiorly with an annular chamber communicating with the pissage of the sleeve and with an oil supply duct communicating with suchcl'iambor.

3. In a rotary gas engine, a fixed crank shaft, a crank casing rotatablymounted about the shaft and having radial arms, cylinders communicatingwith and extending from the arms, braces secured at their inner ends todiametrically opposed sides of the arms adjacent their juncture with the5 cylinders and ,diverging from the arms at either side of the cylinderswith their free ends oppositely bent, and a fly wheel secured.

to the oppositely bent ends of the braces a'i'ld supported by themconcentrically with {is-- spect to the crank case and cylinders and In10 spaced relation to the outer ends of the cylinders.

In testimon whereof I aflix my signature.

THO AS ARTHUR. .[L. 5.]

